Description

A witness to 1869 voter intimidation involving the Ku Klux Klan

[Reconstruction] 1869 Falls County Voter Irregularities Archive.
[A. M. Attaway] Secretarial Autograph Letter Signed. Two pages,
7.75" x 10", December 6, 1869, Marlin, Falls County, Texas. In this
significant contemporary fair copy, Attaway reports, as election
results were slowly arriving, on the tensions during Reconstruction
in the South, and more specifically, on the voter intimidation that
was occurring in Falls County, Texas, during the important election
of 1869. Attaway, the Falls County candidate for District Court
clerk, witnessed some of the earliest Ku Klux Klan activity in
Texas during this election and he complains about it to "N.
Patten" of Galveston, Texas. This is a contemporary military
copy of Attaway's letter, possibly prepared for an investigation by
the U.S. military into the Falls County voter intimidation, with
"Charles E. Morse" secretarial signature at bottom of
page two.

In 1869, Texas, like other southern states, was involved in
post-Civil War Reconstruction. The leaders of the Confederacy were
not allowed to run for political office, so the leadership void was
filled by scalawags, carpetbaggers, Radical Republicans, and those
who had opposed secession but eventually sided with the
Confederacy. Two main factions surfaced during this time: Radical
Unionists and Conservative Unionists. The Radicals were Republican
politicians who demanded severe policies toward the South following
the Civil War, as well as equal rights for the newly freed slaves.
The Conservatives favored as little change as possible and were
against enfranchising the freed slaves.

In the Texas election of 1869, voting took place between November
30 and December 3. Under the Reconstruction Acts, all adult males -
black and white - were allowed to register, except those who had
taken part in the rebellion. Whites made up 58% of eligible voters,
but only about half actually voted. Of the eligible black voters,
two-thirds voted, which was enough to affect the turnout. In Falls
County, A. M. Attaway reports that in the race for state senator,
Radical Unionist S. W. Ford lost by 245 votes, though he carried
Waco. Gubernatorial candidate Radical Unionist Edmund J. Davis also
was "beat here by 230 votes." (Davis' opponent was
Conservative Unionist Andrew Jackson Hamilton, who had served as
governor during the early part of Reconstruction, 1865-1866.)
Attaway then goes on to report on the reason the Radical Unionists
were losing in Falls County: the intimidation of black voters.
"We made a very good run the first day up to noon, when
[Conservative Unionists] Shields, Evans and all the forces they
could raise went to work to stop the col'd [colored] voters
from voting the Davis Ticket."

The military should have stopped the intimidation, but "our
military not interfering, let them control the remainder of the
col'd vote by just taking possession of the Court Yard."
Special Order Number 157, which is included in this lot
["Headquarters, Post of Austin, Texas, November 9,
1869, Special Orders. No. 157", one page on lined
paper, 8" x 12.5", plus one "true copy" of the Special
Order] had been issued on November 9 appointing Brevet Major
Clarence Mauck "Registrar for Falls County, Texas." He was
to take "a Detachment of ten cavalrymen mounted, armed and
equipped . . . to Marlin, the County seat of Falls County, and
there take post in accordance with instructions contained in
General Orders, No. 174, 179, and 185." Fine. Also included in
this lot: "HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT/
(STATE OF TEXAS)/ GENERAL ORDERS,/No. 179." Four and
one-half pages, 5" x 8", October 8, 1869, Austin, with printed
signature of "H. Clay Wood/ Assistant Adjutant General",
listing the "appointments of Registrars, for the purpose of
conducting the revision of the registration lists and holding the
election." On page four are listed the three Falls County
registrars. Fine.].

According to Attaway, black voters were then forced to vote for
moderate Republican Hamilton, a choice they would have never made
since Hamilton was opposed to black suffrage: "by threats of
Rebels, Ku Klux and murderous words and threats of driving them
from the farms & just frightened and scared them [black
voters] and forced them to the Polls with the Hamilton Ticket
and made them vote it." As a result of the intimidation, "a
great many thro' fear left for home and did not vote at all there
was 2 or 3 col'd men from Waco who was assisting Ford who left the
first Evening for Waco through fear of their lives. I never saw
such a scene in all my life."

Attaway then goes on to explain specifically how "Our opponents
and their assistants every man . . . Shields, Evans and others"
intimidated the voters: They "just kept the Court yard Every
day, and they would just watch the Freedmen as they came into Town
and catch them up, and give them the Hamilton Ticket and by threats
of all kinds make them vote it so they thus controlled the vote by
force and violence and a great many did not vote at all but went
home in fear and disgust with the Davis ticket in their
pockets." The result was that "Evans' majority in Falls and
McLennan [Counties] is 99 votes. If Ford is beaten he will
contest and claim his seat in the Senate." Though Ford lost
Falls and McLennan County, he won the election. The race for
governor was very close, but Radical Republican Davis barely
defeated Hamilton.

Attaway's letter relates some of the earliest Ku Klux Klan activity
in Texas. The Klan began in 1865 in Tennessee. It swept through the
South during Reconstruction, though it was not a unified group in
Texas. Its first activities in Texas were noted in the spring of
1868. A major reaction against Reconstruction, the Klan attempted
to intimidate the Radical Unionists and Freedmen by using threats,
night ridings, and murder. The letter is on lined-paper; fine.

Also included in this lot is the Waco Examiner Extra!
One page, 6" x 11", with election results from Falls County and
other Texas counties, dated December 5 and 6 [1869]. With headline,
"Election News!!! Latest By Telegraph." Reporting that in
Falls County, "For the Constitution 951; against 4. For A. J.
Hamilton 594; for E. J. Davis 362. . . . A. J. Evans 604; Ford 359.
. . . For District Clerk, Curry 530; Attaway 395." With folds
and light stains; fine.

Also included, the "Records pertaining to the Registration of
Citizens of Falls County, State of Texas." One page marked as
"ORIGINAL", 9.5" X 7.25", [n.d.]. "Received from Bvt Major
Clarence Mauck, Capt. 4th Cav." With folds; fine.

Also, a handwritten list of candidates on four pages, lined
paper, 6" x 12.5", December 5, 1869, Marlin County. This document
certified the votes each candidate received, but sadly, the right
half of all four pages has rodent damage. The heading reads,
"Return of Election held at [...] County Texas, on the
Thirtieth [...] Second and Third of December [...] to
Gen. Order No. 174 Hd. Qrt. [...] District, State of Texas,
Oct 1 [...]". Below the heading is one left-hand column of the
candidates' names. Missing is the right half of the page which
likely contained the number of votes each candidate received. Poor
condition.

Only 28 days left to consign to the 2018 March 25 - 26 Luxury Accessories Signature Auction - Dallas!

Learn about consigning with us

Heritage Auctions and Mr. Chad Reingold were...professional and courteous in all transactions and provided outstanding service in answering my many emails.
I recommend them at the highest level.
Killy M.,Melbourne Beach, FL